A group of 144 “conservative leaders” signed a letter Monday urging Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, House Freedom Caucus co-founder, to run for speaker of the House because “it’s time to clean house” to “drain the swamp.”

Taking a shot at House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, the signers said they support Jordan because “the present House Republican leadership has proven that it’s part of ‘the swamp,’” not the solution to it:

Consequently, a vote to promote any member of today’s House GOP leadership is a vote for the Swamp. It’s time to Clean House.

There must be a real race for Speaker of the House. Now. No backroom deals. A real race, starting this spring, to make every incumbent and candidate commit on the record, as a campaign issue, whether they’ll vote to save the Swamp or drain it.

America needs you to declare yourself as a candidate for Speaker at once. We write to you on behalf of millions of Americans who want Congress to Drain the Swamp.

According to the Daily Caller, the letter is the latest development in a story that began in April, when Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced he would not run for reelection.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) are also possible replacements for Ryan.

Jordan is a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and the House on Oversight and Government Reform. He also served as the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus before North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) succeeded him.

Although Jordan hasn’t officially launched a bid for Speaker, has been encouraged by colleagues to consider doing so, and Jordan says he will seriously do that.

Jordan thinks the primary focus for Republicans right now should be on maintaining their House majority and ensuring the next speaker is committed to making good on what the party promised voters in 2016.

During a speech last week, Jordan said just that: it is time for congressional Republicans to deliver on the policies they promised voters in the last election cycle:

What did you tell the American people you were going to do? Go do that. There is one guy who is doing that right now, and not all of us in this room supported him when he ran for president. He is doing what he said he would do.

Jordan raddled off a laundry list of accomplishments on the part of President Donald J. Trump’s administration — cutting taxes, getting Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench, eliminating the Iran Deal, and moving the embassy to Jerusalem.

“Compare and contrast that to Congress. Think about this: other than the tax cuts, you tell me what Congress has done that is worth while. You tell me what we have done that is consistent with the promises we made the American people in that election, on that day, Nov. 8, 2016?” Jordan asked.

The 2018 midterm elections are six months away, and campaign season is in full swing.

On Tuesday, May 8, four states will hold primaries. Obviously, the GOP candidates eager to be on the general ballots come November hope that voters choose them over their Republican opponents.

It’s always expected that politicians will talk up what they will do once in Washington. It remains to be seen whether these promises will translate from the campaign trail into reality, though. Many a promise has been made before elected office that never sees the light of day.

But just how closely are candidates aligning themselves with the nation’s polarizing president and leader of the party?

The primaries on Tuesday are in areas that President Trump won against second-place loser, Hillary Clinton, in 2016. That record would lead these D.C. hopefuls to believe that they must stay in close proximity to the president, and also sing his praises, in order to secure their own victory.

In Ohio, Republicans are certain to nominate someone more conservative than outgoing GOP Gov. John Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate, moderate and frequent Trump critic. Even Kasich’s former running mate, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, has pledged to unwind some of Kasich’s centrist policies, including the expansion of the Medicaid government insurance program following Democrats’ 2010 health insurance overhaul.

North Carolina Republicans will weigh in on the fate of Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger, facing a primary challenger who almost upset him two years ago. Pittenger features Trump prominently in his campaign. Challenger Mark Harris, a prominent Charlotte pastor, has tried to turn the table, saying Pittenger is a creature of Washington who refuses to help Trump “drain that swamp.”

Indiana Senate candidates are trying to appeal to Trump voters by adopting the president’s harsh immigration rhetoric and penchant for personal insults. The candidates have even channeled Trump by assigning derisive nicknames to one another: “Lyin’” Todd Rokita, Luke “Missing” Messer and “Tax Hike” Mike Braun.

According to Real Clear Politics, President Trump’s job approval rating stands at 44.4% overall. Gallup measures his approval among Republicans at 89% and among independents at 35%. Naturally, adopting a pro-Trump campaign platform would make sense when going up against fellow Republicans. The candidates who are less inclined to be obvious in their Trump support will have a tough time come Tuesday, and beyond.

But this may not bode as well as they hope in the lead-up to November.

Once the primary winners face off against their Democratic opponents on the campaign trail, such vocal support for President Trump has a good chance of completely pushing away a fair amount of undecided and independent voters.

Let’s face it, America. We live in an incredibly divisive time. Announcing support for the party in power, and for the president, is enough to get branded a racist, sexist, and the like. There’s almost no getting around this reaction, especially when it comes from those on the other side of the aisle.

While I take issue with a significant portion of the president’s behavior and question the uncritical support that he receives, it is unfair to label Republican voters – overall – as racist and sexist. I know many who supported Trump on election day. Some did so reluctantly while others did so with great enthusiasm. (I also know Hillary Clinton fans and Bernie Sanders followers.) They are still good and decent people. We may disagree often, but these family members and friends are not the racist, sexist creatures that many on the Left claim them to be.

However, the stigma remains.

Unless they are one of the few to know them on a personal level, voters only know these D.C. hopefuls based on what they portray in public. If GOP candidates use President Trump as one of their main talking points and do so in a completely positive manner, undecideds may remove them as an alternative to their Democratic challenger.

Will glowing support of the president help or hurt Republican candidates in this crucial midterm election year? That is the question.

With nearly two years of Donald Trump’s presidency complete, some are left frustrated and ready for a change. However, with control of Congress hanging in the balance, some may do what voters did on November 8, 2016: hold their nose and reluctantly cast a vote in favor of Republicans, and all they represent.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent those of any other individual or entity. Follow Kimberly Ross on Twitter: @southernkeeks.

So was this the “real estate deal” Fox News’ Sean Hannity alluded to, when it was revealed last week that he was Michael Cohen’s “third client”?

A new report in The Guardian notes that Hannity has investments in foreclosed homes, as well as low-income housing in seven states: North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Vermont, and New York.

Some of that investment help came with an assist from the Department of Housing and Urban Development – something not disclosed when Hannity had HUD Secretary Ben Carson on his program

The records link Hannity to a group of shell companies that spent at least $90m on more than 870 homes in seven states over the past decade. The properties range from luxurious mansions to rentals for low-income families. Hannity is the hidden owner behind some of the shell companies and his attorney did not dispute that he owns all of them.

Dozens of the properties were bought at a discount in 2013, after banks foreclosed on their previous owners for defaulting on mortgages. Before and after then, Hannity sharply criticised Barack Obama for the US foreclosure rate. In January 2016, Hannity said there were “millions more Americans suffering under this president” partly because of foreclosures.

There’s nothing wrong with seeing a deal and making an investment. There’s a lot wrong with slamming Obama for Americans suffering under foreclosure, then quietly swooping in to take advantage of that.

So what are the details about the properties?

Among the most valuable are two large apartment complexes in Georgia that Hannity bought in 2014 for $22.7m. The developments are in the cities of Perry and Brunswick, which have higher poverty rates and lower median incomes than the US averages. One- and two-bedroom units in Hannity‍‍‍’s apartment complexes are available to rent for $735 to $1,065 per month, according to brochures.

The Georgia purchases were funded with mortgages for $17.9m that Hannity obtained with help from Hud, which insured the loans under a program created as part of the National Housing Act. The loans, first guaranteed under the Obama administration, were recently increased by $5m with renewed support from Carson’s department.

Hannity has brought up the housing issue on his program before, falsely claiming that home ownership was at a 51-year low. He’s done this several times.

The Georgia mortgages supported by Hud were guaranteed as part of a program aimed at protecting investors such as Hannity who buy rental apartment buildings. The government promises to cover losses if borrowers default on their mortgages. Borrowers pay an insurance premium to Hud in return. Bigger loan guarantees are available if the building houses low-income families.

Paperwork relating to the agreements with Hud, which was filed to county authorities, named Hannity as the principal of the shell companies used to buy the apartment complexes and to borrow the funds. Hannity personally signed several of the documents. A Hud source said Hannity was identified in non-public filings as the 100% owner of the apartment complexes.

Late last month, Hannity’s mortgages were replaced with loans for $22.9m that were rewritten with Carson’s Hud and a new bank. There was no indication that Carson was personally involved in the process. Carson does, however, have the authority to allow Hannity from 2019 to convert the rental complexes into condominiums for sale, which could be lucrative for the television host.

The companies behind the purchases are limited liability (LLCs), and Hannity is listed as either the manager or principal of the companies.

Some of the homes listed were also noted to be lived in by some member of Hannity’s family, or Hannity, himself.

The list of properties bought by the Hannity-linked companies includes multimillion-dollar homes used by Hannity. It also features single-family units priced as low as $50,000 in relatively poor suburbs. In at least two cases, batches of homes were bought simultaneously at a discount, after they were repossessed by banks from their previous owners in foreclosure proceedings.

The entire portfolio connected to Hannity comprises at least 877 residential units, which were bought for a total of just under $89m. Another seven properties bought by the companies over recent years have subsequently been sold on for more than $4m, according to public records.

So he’s raging at President Obama, while benefitting off of those foreclosed homes, and he’s praising Carson on his show, without disclosing that Carson’s department had given an assist with purchasing some of those low income houses he looks to benefit financially from.

So is this illegal?

I don’t think so, but at the very least, it’s rather hypocritical, and you have to wonder if there’s anything else that the “third client” may be hiding.

Emergency responders say they received calls about the accident early in the morning, just before 6 a.m. Highway Patrol says the deadly accident occurred in Buncombe County along I-26, near mile marker 35. Police say since they accident happened so recently they have not yet been able to determine exactly what happened or whether any criminal charges would be filed against the truck driver. Police have also not yet released the name of the victim as they are still attempting to contact his family members.

In 2011, North Carolina reported 504 accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. In 2012, that number jumped 11 percent, to 561. The number of fatalities also ballooned upward, from 84 to 98, a whopping 17 percent increase. The average for the past five years is 497 accidents and 88 fatalities.

Though safety experts recommend that all pedestrians stay on sidewalks, use crosswalks and obey traffic signals when out walking along North Carolina’s roads, people in rural areas like Buncombe County cannot always easily follow such advice. Pedestrians in rural areas often find themselves forced to share roadways with cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles and tractor-trailers in places that lack any conveniences for those on foot. When that is the case, drivers have additional obligations to watch for pedestrians, especially early in the morning or late at night when it’s dark and difficult to see.

When choosing an attorney the family members should consider a lawyer that has an excellent track record of defending pedestrians and a great knowledge of pedestrian and crosswalk laws. The faster the family contacts a lawyer the quicker a lawyer can investigate the scene of the accident and begin gathering evidence.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, take a moment to read our car accident injury guide so you’re fully informed about what to do if you are hurt in a North Carolina (NC) car accident.

If you have been involved in a North Carolina car, motorcycle or truck accident and are not sure how to move forward, it might be helpful to check out my firm’s answers to some frequently asked questions regarding car accident claims. For instance, you may be wondering what types of damages an injured person can recover or how you can go about calculating and recovering money for lost wages. For these answers and more, read my firm’s North Carolina car accident FAQs.

Here’s a Google Map showing the location of the deadly accident:

View Larger Map

CA

Contact us at: Westlake Legal Group Your Northern Virginia Full Service Law Firm. Call (703) 406-7616 or click here for our website: https://westlakelegal.com/

The two people arrested, Troy Gunter and Nicole Gunter, were charged Sunday night for their criminal behavior. According to police, Troy was the driver of the vehicle that hit and killed Hugh Johnston IV early Friday morning. Troy is now facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, felony hit and run involving serious injury or death and driving with a revoked license. He’s currently in jail on a $30,000 bond.

The passenger in the vehicle, Nicole, has also been charged in connection with the hit-and-run accident, for aiding and abetting and also for aiding and abetting the driving with a revoked license. She’s in jail on a $10,00 bond.

Police say the accident happened early Friday morning while Johnston was riding a moped home on N.C. Highway 42. At some point the Gunter’s hit Johnston from behind and fled the scene of the accident. Later that morning, another driving called 911 and reported finding a motorcycle helmet and pieces of a moped and a wrecked vehicle in the middle of the road. Emergency responders arrived and found Johnston alive on the side of the road. Tragically, he died while being transported to a local hospital.

After crashing into another car, the decision to bolt from the scene is not only heartless, it’s also against the law. Now, the driver responsible for the crash is likely to be convicted of criminal charges in addition to the civil penalties he could face. As experienced North Carolina (NC) personal injury and wrongful death lawyers we are familiar with these situations and are able to offer support to those in need. My firm successfully represented one couple who were seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident. My firm was able to secure a $225,000 settlement for our clients, giving them an opportunity to begin to put their lives back together in the wake of the terrible accident.

If you recently lost a loved one in a tragic North Carolina accident and are not sure how to move forward, it might be helpful to check out my firm’s answers to some frequently asked questions regarding wrongful death claims. For instance, you may be wondering what a wrongful death claim is or how a North Carolina court would go about calculating damages in a wrongful death case. For these answers and more, check out my firm’s North Carolina (NC) wrongful death frequent asked questions.

We aim to lead in each practice and area of law we work in. Coming from in-depth understanding of the law and the industry, capitalizing on extensive experience, we provide hands-on advice that speaks the language of our client’s business and/or legal issue.